Cheryl Jean Harbinson

Processional

Opening Words and Introduction:

Friends and family, join me in welcoming Anthony and Brianna. I know that I speak for everyone when I say that we are honored to be here to celebrate this most important day with the two of you. This is the day when you publicly declare your love for, and commitment to, each other. This is the day when the bond between you will be sealed in word and action….and witnessed by those you hold most dear.

Without context, marriage is just a word. It’s the love that you have for each other that gives the word its power. It’s the promises that you are about to make to each other that give marriage its significance. It’s the unity of your body that stands as a testament to the world, affirming that you, Anthony and Brianna share the deepest and most sacred love.

But today is also a celebration for the rest of us, for it is a pleasure for us to see love bloom, and to participate in the union of two people so delightfully suited to one another.

And to have a couple of cocktails in the process.

Giving Away the Bride

May I ask that the parents of Anthony and Brianna to please rise.

This wedding is also a celebration of family.

It is the merging of two families that have been separate up to this moment, but united from this day forward — blending their different traditions and strengthening the family tree.

To honor this uniting of the families, Anthony and Brianna wish to ask their parent’s blessing.

To Bride’s Mom and Dad

Dawn and Nick,  do you offer this couple your blessing?

Do you welcome Anthony as a member of your family and give him your love and affection?

PARENTS SAY: We do.

To Groom’s Mom and Dad

Toni and Paul, do you offer this couple your blessing?

Do you welcome Brianna as a member of your family and give her your love and affection?

PARENTS SAY: We do.

Parents kindly be seated.

Remembrance: With Us in Spirit

Anthony and Brianna are grateful for the loved ones whose guidance and inspiration made them the people they are today. While some of those loved ones cannot be here with us today, Anthony and Brianna know that they are with us all in spirit, particularly at this important time in their lives, as they build on the lessons of the living, and the departed, to create their own family.

Ceremony Readings

1. 'From Beginning to End' by Robert Fulghum

You have known each other from the first glance of acquaintance to this point of commitment. At some point, you decided to marry. From that moment of yes to this moment of yes, indeed, you have been making promises and agreements in an informal way. All those conversations that were held riding in a car or over a meal or during long walks - all those sentences that began with "When we're married" and continued with "I will and you will and we will” - those late night talks that included "someday" and "somehow" and “maybe" - and all those promises that are unspoken matters of the heart. All these common things, and more, are the real process of a wedding. The symbolic vows that you are about to make are a way of saying to one another, "You know all those things we've promised and hoped and dreamed - well, I meant it all, every word."

Look at one another and remember this moment in time. Before this moment you have been many things to one another acquaintance, friend, companion, lover, dancing partner, and even teacher, for you have learned much from one another in these last few years.

Now you shall say a few words that take you across a threshold of life, and things will never quite be the same between you. For after these vows, you shall say to the world, this - is my husband, this - is my wife.

2. Love is an Adventure by Pierre Tielhart de Chardin

“Love is an adventure and a conquest. It survives and develops like the universe itself only by perpetual discovery. The only right love is that between couples whose passion leads them both, one through the other, to a higher possession of their being. Put your faith in the spirit which dwells between the two of you. You have each offered yourself to the other as a boundless field of understanding, of enrichment, of mutually increased sensibility. You will meet above all by entering into and constantly sharing one another’s thoughts, affections, and dreams. There alone, as you know, in spirit, which is arrived through flesh, you will find no disappointments, no limits. There alone the skies are ever open for your love; there alone lies the great road ahead.”

Anthony and Brianna’s Story:

I plan to keep this speech short, classy, and family-friendly. I will leave out stories that are unflattering to either of them. So I’ve had to redline quite a few things. But I do feel comfortable saying, “this is a match made in heaven.”

As someone who has been there with Brianna since the day she was born. Changing her poopie diapers and letting her wear the Dorothy dress even after Nick said, “whatever you do, don’t let her wear the Dorothy dress.”

She’s such a compassionate person, while on vacation she threw a sticky hand on the 12 foot ceiling and said I think it needs a friend. In case you don’t know what a sticky hand is, I could explain it to you, but I’m sure you’ll see one later on tonight.

Remembering all the countless sleep overs, scientist Paul games, and vacations galore. It’s surreal to see her here today, all grown up and marrying her best friend, the love of her life.

Anthony..the day I met you I liked you instantly. One November, Anthony made the long drive to Tennessee with the Del Sangro’s to spend a fun filled weekend in Nashville. The weekend began with Anthony locking the keys in the car and losing Nicholas’s drone atop someones roof. In fact, I had found a jacket that I did not recognize. I asked “who owns this jacket?” Anthony responded - “hey, that’s a nice jacket, I like that”. Moments later Anthony confessed “Oh wait a minute that’s my jacket.” At that moment, I knew she had to keep him.

It is extremely clear that the two of them represent a perfect pairing because each of them complements the other so well.

Anthony is outgoing, funny and goes with the flow. While Brianna is patient, nurturing and resilient.

This shows that they balance one another, and while each of them are tremendous individuals on their own, together they are even better.

And being better together, as a team, a unit, and partners in crime, is what has been many years in the making and ultimately leads us to being here today, witnessing their commitment to one another in front of those they love most.

I wish I could tell you a single story about Anthony and Brianna that summarizes their relationship and how they enrich each other’s lives, and the lives of each of us, but the truth is there isn’t one single event that is a good encapsulation of what they mean to each other, to their family and friends and to me.

But what I do know is that both of them care deeply and passionately for each other; they protect each other; they make each other laugh and think outside themselves;

They help each other in ways that are obvious and unnoticed but always appreciated.

I also know that it’s not just anyone with whom you can have communication by a simple look, laughing at inside jokes or remember seeing her across a crowded J.J. Kelly’s dance floor and thinking dayum.

But it’s also my personal experiences with Anthony and Brianna that highlight the quality of their love. It doesn’t matter if I’m with them in person, or simply in a bizarre group text or sending memes via Snapchat.

When I’m engaging with Anthony and Brianna, I am always enjoying myself. And I am certain that that’s part of what makes them so special to each of us: how happy and contented we feel when we are with them.

And what I wish for them on their wedding day is that their life together as a team is one of complete contentment; full of those moments that they wish would never end, and that they continue to make one another smile and laugh as they make each of us do every day.

Declaration of Intent

Anthony and Brianna, your marriage begins with the vows and promises you speak to one another today.

The marriage vow is a promise of fidelity and honesty.

Anthony, do you love Brianna willingly and completely, withholding nothing? Will you protect her, and give her your deepest considerations of her feelings, desires and needs?

Anthony says, I will”

Will you strive to keep your love flexible and adapt to changing circumstances in the marriage? And will you be Brianna’s counselor, helpmate, sweetheart & lover, and best friend, from this day forward?

Anthony says, I will”

Brianna, do you love Anthony willingly and completely, withholding nothing? Will you protect him, and give him your deepest considerations of his feelings, desires and needs?

Brianna says, I will”

Will you strive to keep your love flexible and adapt to changing circumstances in the marriage? And will you be Anthony’s counselor, helpmate, sweetheart & lover, and his best friend, from this day forward?

Brianna says, I will”

Mother’s Rose Ceremony

Long before today your parents provided you with a foundation of love and caring which has brought you to this point.
At this time Anthony and Brianna would like to express their gratitude to their mother’s for their unconditional love, their unyielding strengths in times of hardship and for all the selfless sacrifices they have made to make their children who they are today….a man and a woman who are ready to be committed in a loving marriage of their own. They honor their mothers with the symbolic gift of beauty; the giving of the rose.

Introduction to the exchange of vows

This is a new beginning for both of you and I’d like to offer some gentle reminders to ease your life-long task of living and growing together.

Be kind to each other.

And, when you disagree, do it respectfully.

Be gentle and forgiving with each other.

When you forgive, your hearts make room for a little more love, a little more understanding and a little more compassion.

Communicate with each other.

Share the joy that’s in your heart and the sorrow that burdens your soul.

Open your hearts to each other and find the love.

*Please face one another

Anthony, repeat after me


I, Anthony take you, Brianna to be my wife,

to have and to hold,

for better and for worse,

for richer and for poorer,

in sickness and in health,

to love and to cherish,

from this day forward, until death do us part.

Brianna, repeat after me

I, Brianna take you, Anthony to be my husband,

to have and to hold,

for better and for worse,

for richer and for poorer,

in sickness and in health,

to love and to cherish,

from this day forward, until death do us part.

Ring Warming Ceremony

May I ask the godparents to come up….

Kim and Mario, Brianna’s Godparents - And Nick and Nga, in place of Anthony's Godparents, Irene and Bill………

Anthony and Brianna ask that each of you hold these wedding rings for a moment, warming them with your love, by blessing and sharing your good wishes for their marriage, before passing them on.

While the Godparents are imparting their wishes to the wedding rings, I ask everyone present to silently send to Anthony and Brianna your best wishes and blessings.

Godparents pass rings to me;

you may be seated

Kim, Mario, Nick and Nga, family and friends, you have added your love and support of this marriage.  As Anthony and Brianna wear these rings they will be an outward sign of their love for each other and the love you have shared with them on their wedding day.

Wedding Ring Symbol

The wedding ring seals the vows of marriage and represents a promise of everlasting love. It is a physical manifestation of the promises joining this couple together. The wedding ring is placed on the fourth finger of the left hand because years ago, it was believed that this finger was a direct connection to the heart - the perfect place for a symbol representing love and commitment. These rings are the physical embodiment of the spiritual bond that now binds you two together.

Brianna hands her bouquet to Julia

Exchange of Wedding Rings

Anthony, repeat after me:

“I give you this ring as a symbol of our love.

Let it be a reminder that I am always by your side 

and that I will always be a faithful partner to you.”

Brianna, repeat after me:

“I give you this ring as a symbol of our love.

Let it be a reminder that I am always by your side 

and that I will always be a faithful partner to you.”

Blessing of the rings:

Now we come to the blessing of the rings.

May these rings be blessed as a symbol of this affectionate union. These two lives are now joined in one unbroken circle. Wherever they go, they will always return to one another in their unity. These two find in each other the love for which all human beings yearn. They promise to grow in understanding and in compassion. The home which they establish together will be such a place of sanctuary and friendship. These rings, on their fingers, symbolize the Spirit of Love in their hearts.

Blessing of the Marriage 

To make your relationship work takes love, patience and understanding. Continue to date each other. Take the time to enjoy each other, remember to laugh - even during times that are challenging - your love and marriage will grow stronger through these experiences.

It will take trust to know that in your hearts, you truly want what is best for each other.

It will take dedication to stay open to one another—and to learn and grow together.

It will take loyalty to go forward together, without knowing exactly what the future brings.

It will take commitment to hold true to the journey you have both pledged today and it will take understanding that Vito will always be around to build or fix something around the house.

Pronouncement and kiss

Now that you have given yourselves to each other with solemn vows, and the giving and receiving of rings, in front of God and all who are assembled here—it is with great joy that I pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride.

Ladies and gentlemen, may I present to you for the very first time…Anthony and Brianna Spangler.